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Here’s What Happened:
The Libertarian National Committee (LNC) owns the trademark LIBERTARIAN PARTY. The LNC licenses the use of the mark to recognized state affiliates, like the Libertarian Party of Michigan.
In 2022, the leadership of the Libertarian Party of Michigan were in a leadership battle. Some of the officers didn’t like other officers who ended up in the top officer spots. So they “removed” them and stepped into their places. The LNC said “No, you can’t do that.” and reinstated the top officers. The dissenting officers, considering themselves to be the rightful officers, identified themselves as the official Libertarian Party of Michigan. The dissenting officers created their own website and acted as though it was the “real” Libertarian Party of Michigan.
The LNC sued the dissenters in federal court bringing various claims of trademark infringement. The LNC moved for a preliminary injunction barring the defendants/dissenters from continuing to use the LNC’s mark. The district court granted the injunction. The defendants appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The defendants argued that they had a First Amendment right to identify themselves as a political party named the Libertarian Party of Michigan.
The Sixth Circuit rejected the argument. The LNC uses the Libertarian Party trademark as a source identifier to solicit party donations, fill out campaign finance paperwork, advertise events, and espouse political platform positions and commentary. These activities fall within the scope of the trademark use.
The Sixth Circuit found that the defendants’ use of the LNC mark was not for commentary or political speech. Rather the defendants used the mark without a license for political services such as maintaining a website containing political platforms, endorsing candidates, and filing campaign finance reports. These activities created a sufficient likelihood of confusion.
The Sixth Circuit affirmed the lower court.
WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW THIS: With election season in full swing, what can be more appropriate than a decision about the name of a political party?
Cited Authority: Libertarian Nat’l Comm. Inc. v. Saliba, et al., Case No. 23-1856, 2024 WL 3964005 (6th Cir. Aug. 28, 2024)